About Us

Kingston St Mary Pre-school was established in the eighties, primarily for the young children of the village. Over the years due to the commitment of staff, committees and parents alike, the pre-school has gone from strength to strength. There is a very strong link with the local toddler group (held at Kingston St Mary church) who naturally 'feed' the pre-school with local children as well as those children who come to us through recommendation or advertising.

In turn, our pre-school is a major contributor to the primary school of Kingston St Mary. Our staff work very closely with the Reception class teachers to establish a smooth transition for the children into school life. However many children from outside the catchment area who go into other schools still benefit immensely from this arrangement. For children who fall outside the catchment area, our staff will also make direct links with their Reception class teachers.

Attending the pre-school does not guarantee a place at Kingston St Mary Primary School. The allocation of school places must be through the admission policy and procedures endorsed by Somerset County Council.

Admission ProcedureRegistration documents and the consent form must be completed prior to or on their first morning at Kingston St Mary Pre-school. We regret that no child can be left at pre-school if you have not supplied us with emergency contact numbers and doctors details. Please see the Policies page for more details. It is the parents / carers responsibility to provide updated information should any changes occur in the data on file.

Starting Pre-schoolComing to Kingston St Mary Pre-school will help prepare your child for school. It will encourage him/her to form independence and socialize in a secure and happy environment. The first few sessions at pre-school may be daunting for some if not all children. It is important for the staff and parents to ensure that the child settles in well. We encourage all parents to visit with their child on numerous occasions to help them to settle in. Please do bring their comforter to help the settling in process (i.e. blanket, dummy, teddy etc). Only an authorised person can collect your child.

As many of the activities at Kingston St Mary Pre-school involve messy (but fun!) materials it is best to send your child in comfortable, washable clothes and not their Sunday best! Aprons are supplied but accidents may happen. Easy clothes that can allow them to use independence when going to the toilet as well as coats that they take on and off themselves for outdoor play help them develop new skills. Footwear worn should be appropriate for play and encourage independence, indoor and outdoor footwear would be ideal. It is essential that all coats and bags/rucksacks are labelled with your child’s name.

Drinks and snacksAll children at Kingston St Mary Pre-school are encouraged to drink either milk or water at break time and to bring in a flask of water for use at other times during a session. A variety of healthy snacks are provided for each child such as fruit and toast at snack time.

Premises and EquipmentWe have a very extensive selection of toys, puzzles, books, games, role play items, musical instruments to name but a few, all of which have been carefully considered before purchase. We also have a range of toys/equipment that will be used through play to help achieve the Early Years Learning Goals of four year olds. We also keep an extensive range of craft/modeling items.

We have a purpose-built building with a secure outside area which is used all the year round allowing free flow play, meeting the requirements of OFSTED.

It should be noted that we have a designated Health and Safety Officer who undertakes regular checks on all equipment and the premises.

In conjunction with the partnership agreement with Kingston St Mary Primary school, the Pre-school has access to the school hall and outside play areas. Pre-school also have walking trips to the local playing field where there is an enclosed play area and use of the Pavillion.

The CurriculumAll children at Kingston St Mary Pre-school are encouraged to develop at their own pace and it is our intention to offer a curriculum planned in partnership with parents, to meet the needs of individual children using appropriate play activities and having high adult input. This will help prepare children for the National Curriculum once they join primary school.

Security of Your ChildAll staff and committee at Kingston St Mary Pre-school have Enhanced Criminal Record checks completed by the Criminal Records Bureau. No child from the pre-school will be released to an unauthorised person. If you are not personally collecting your child at the end of your session, you must contact a member of staff to inform them who is collecting your child.

There is an electronic gate with intercom system for entrance to the pre-school premises and staff have to release the gate for your exit.

Car Parking ArrangementsPlease take extreme care when dropping your child off and collecting from pre-school. There is a community car park next to the building. Please reverse your vehicle into the parking space to allow full visibility of any children walking in the car park. Please ensure that your vehicle does not obstruct any roads or private entrances.

Record Keeping / Progress Recording / Reporting to ParentsAll staff at Kingston St Mary Pre-school have received training for observation and record keeping skills. At various times during pre-school your child will be observed at the activity they are taking part in and a record kept specifically for your child. This is NOT a measure of what is right or wrong. It is a measure of the child’s level of competence or achievement at a particular task, to observe how the child is learning to enable staff to plan for the next stage of development. This record in turn helps us to see if we are achieving the outcomes designated by the Department of Education. There will be regular talks with parents to discuss their child’s progress or to identify a particular need. These records are available for parents to see at any time and will be given to parents at the end of their child’s time at pre-school. The records are completely confidential and only accessible by members of staff and to parents on request.

Toilet RequisitesOnlypre-school staff are responsible for the toileting of children. Children do not need to be toilet trained before they can start pre-school.

Lunch Box GuidelinesParent/carers to provide food in named lunch box/container. Fruit and vegetables to be cut appropriately for child to eat, (generally a whole apple is too much!).Pre-school discourages crisps, chocolate biscuits/ wafers and fizzy drinks.Structured eating – children will be encouraged to eat fresh and nutritious food first, biscuits etc. last.Due to possible allergic reactions and in the case of food swapping (discouraged) please AVOID FOODS CONTAINING NUTS.Warmer weather - It is a good idea to place ice pack/ blocks within the lunch box. Please refrain from high risk foods as there is very limited space in the fridge.Named lunch boxes are stored on the bar area of the kitchen.

If you need further guidance, please ask a member of staff.

Key Facts

Children can start when they are two and half years old.

We are currently registered to accept up to 20 children at any one time.

A member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, a national association, who issue guidelines and give support in the running of Day Care Pre-schools such as ours.

OFSTED validated and registered to receive grant payments for all eligible three year olds, OFSTED registration number EY413524. We were inspected by OFSTED in May 2015 and awarded an overall 'Good'.Select here to view the full OFSTED report

Registered as a charity no 1023585 with the Charity Commissioners and has to declare annual financial returns.We also accept Edenred (formerly Accor Services) Childcare Vouchers.

Testimonial

“My 3-year old daughter loves her time at Kingston St. Mary Pre-School. As I drop her off in the morning the staff are full of enthusiasm and excitement about the day ahead of them. When I pick her up she chatters endlessly about all of their adventures.”

Mr. R. Dad to Katie.

Sessions & Fees

We are open five days per week.

We accept 2 year funding.

Early Years Entitlement of up 29 funded hours and/or £4.20 per hour.

Please go to Early Years Entitlement/Fees policy for more information.

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Uniform

Although uniform is not compulsory at Kingston St Mary Pre-school, a selection of t-shirts, sweatshirts and fleeces in various colours & sizes are available to purchase. Please see a member of staff.